The Eternal Century office building was brightly lit.
The PR department was racing against time in a meeting, everyone so busy that their feet barely touched the ground.
"Team One, focus on public opinion control and defense. Make sure to manage all promotional accounts well, and don’t let them steer the narrative recklessly."
"Team Two, get in touch with major fan accounts. Have them take the lead and calm down the fanbase."
Fang Hui issued commands calmly and firmly.
As a youth idol group, the Star Moon Boy Group had captured widespread attention since their debut. They were immensely popular and successful, but at the same time, they were destined to have no privacy. Every move they made was scrutinized under the spotlight.
Earlier this evening, paparazzi exposed that one of the group’s members, Ge Qi, was caught smoking, supported by secretly taken photos as evidence.
The fan community exploded, and trending topics dominated the charts.
The group had been marketed as a positive, sunny idol group championing good values. Yet before achieving long-term success, one of their members had already been exposed for smoking—an iron-clad scandal, especially since he was underage.
The Eternal Century PR department immediately convened an emergency meeting, led by PR director Fang Hui to execute damage control.
Fortunately, the team was experienced. Even in the face of such a scandal, they addressed the situation methodically and without panic.
"Director Fang, bad news—an official platform has weighed in, criticizing the chaos in the underage idol market."
Fang Hui responded decisively, "Deploy the online troops to control public opinion. Just make sure the top comments are ours."
"Director Fang, public sentiment is starting to target Rong Xianning, using ’birds of a feather’ rhetoric to drag him into the mess."
Fang Hui’s face darkened. "Do I need to spell it out? Control the comments. Even if we have to abandon Ge Qi, let nothing dirty touch Rong Xianning."
Fang Hui finally lost her composure and shouted, "Where the hell is Ge Qi? Tell him to get back to the company immediately."
"Director Fang, Qingping Paradise just contacted us. They want to reassess the partnership going forward."
The meeting room suddenly fell silent.
No one even dared to breathe heavily.
Qingping Paradise was a national-level beverage brand. The company had been negotiating with the brand for the boy group to act as product ambassadors—a great opportunity to elevate the group’s national reputation and visibility. The deal had been almost finalized, pending the contract. And yet, right at this critical juncture, Ge Qi’s smoking scandal broke out. Given how much the brand valued public opinion, they were naturally hesitant to proceed.
Public sentiment is like the wind—if it cannot be managed, it triggers a devastating chain reaction.
When one brand hesitates, it signals others to follow suit. If this trend continues, the boy group’s reputation will become irreparably damaged.
Fang Hui took a deep breath. "It’s okay. It’s just one beverage endorsement. There will be better ones in the future."
But the worst was yet to come.
"Director Fang, the organizer of the Lantern Festival Gala just called—they’re saying the program’s runtime is over capacity, and they plan to cut our performance."
Fang Hui furrowed her brow sharply and said, "No, something’s off. Someone is manipulating the narrative behind this. Keep a close eye on online sentiment and ensure we control the narrative. I’ll go speak with President Ding."
Fang Hui rose from her seat and hurried off to Ding Meng’s office.
Ding Meng was on the phone, trying to leverage her connections with Deep Sea Group to remove the trending topics. As the company’s CEO, she personally made the call to show Shan Wei full respect. However, the other party didn’t reciprocate—their secretary dodged the issue with a few perfunctory remarks before hanging up.
Ding Meng angrily kicked over the trash bin by her foot.
"President Ding, don’t damage your health over this. I suspect someone is pulling strings from behind the scenes."
Ding Meng narrowed her eyes and stared at her. "Who do you think it could be?"
"Platinum Entertainment recently entered the idol market. He Qian had agreed to collaborate before, but then backed out afterward. That sly old fox clearly wants to monopolize the benefits—take down our boy group’s reputation—and let his group of baby-faced rookies seize the spotlight."
"Isn’t Xu Si still under our control?"
"Xu Si is just a pawn. Besides, Ge Qi smoking—a private matter—how did the paparazzi conveniently catch him? In this industry, I don’t believe in coincidences."
"And I heard recently that He Qian signed multiple new talents, including one modeled after Rong Xianning. His ambition to replicate is glaringly obvious."
Ding Meng gritted her teeth and said, "He Qian, that venomous old bastard—just you wait. One day, I’ll settle the score."
At that moment, Ding Meng’s phone suddenly rang. She impatiently glanced at the caller ID—a mysterious number from Yunzhou.
Ding Meng immediately rejected the call.
She curled her lips into a cold smile. "He acts unkind, so don’t blame me for being uncharitable."
Ding Meng looked at Fang Hui and said, "If we want to bury Ge Qi’s scandal, we’ll need an even bigger scandal to divert attention."